Former Sauber Components 1 crew proprietor Peter Sauber has claimed that Lewis Hamilton was near signing with the Swiss-based crew round twenty years in the past.
The Briton made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007 and secured his first championship victory a 12 months later in 2008, however in line with Sauber, he was near beginning his profession within the sequence together with his crew earlier than the deal fell by as a result of contract phrases.
“Hardly anybody is aware of that round 20 years in the past, Lewis Hamilton nearly drove for us,” Sauber informed Swiss-German publication Blick.
“The Briton belonged to McLaren, and so they wished to ship him to Hinwil for his Components 1 apprenticeship. So the McLaren delegation met with Lewis and his father, in addition to our in-house lawyer Monisha Kaltenborn and myself at Kloten Airport.”
Sauber defined that the deal was near being finalised however McLaren was solely ready to mortgage the now seven-time champion for a single 12 months.
“The deal fell by as a result of McLaren solely wished to mortgage him for one 12 months – however we insisted on two!” he added.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Zak Mauger / LAT Photos through Getty Photos
Hamilton remained on the Woking outfit till the top of the 2012 season, earlier than he signed with Mercedes from 2013. Throughout his time on the Brackley outfit, Hamilton gained six of his seven championship titles and helped convey the crew eight constructors’ championships.Â
The 41-year-old driver determined to make the transfer to Ferrari after a 12-year stint with Mercedes. Arriving on the Maranello outfit forward of the 2025 season, Hamilton drove alongside Charles Leclerc and reunited with crew chief Fred Vasseur, who he had labored with within the junior sequence, together with when he drove for the Frenchman’s ART Grand Prix in GP2 (now Components 2).
Whereas the anticipation was excessive for Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari, he struggled to adapt to the crew in 2025, together with his greatest finishes being a dash race win in China and fourth-place finishes within the Emilia-Romagna, Austrian, British and United States grands prix.
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